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Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Thomas and the Magic Railroad is a 2000 British–American children's fantasy film written, produced and directed by Britt Allcroft. The film stars Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Alec Baldwin, Didi Conn, Russell Means, Cody McMains, Michael E. Rodgers with the voices of Eddie Glen, Neil Crone and Kevin Frank. The film is based on the British children's book series The Railway Series by The Rev. W. Awdry, its televised adaptation Thomas & Friends, and the American television series Shining Time Station by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. It was co-produced by Gullane Pictures/The Britt Allcroft Company and the Isle of Man Film Commission. It was distributed by Destination Films in the United States, Icon Film Distribution in the United Kingdom and ABC Films in Australia. The film tells the story of Lily Stone (Wilson), the granddaughter of the caretaker (Fonda) of an enchanted steam engine who is lacking an appropriate supply of coal, and Mr. Conductor (Baldwin) of Shining Time Station, whose provisions of magical gold dust are at a critical low. To ameliorate these problems, Lily and Mr. Conductor enlist the help of Thomas the Tank Engine (Glen), who confronts the ruthless Diesel 10 (Crone) along the way. When Thomas and the Magic Railroad was first released in the U.K. where critics were unfamiliar with the characters from Shining Time Station, the film was accused of "Americanizing" Thomas.3 Critical reception in the U.S. was almost equally negative, in stark contrast to the praise given to the original Shining Time Station, which was an award-winning show.456 General criticism of the film has been directed towards its plot, characterization, acting and special effects. The film's critical and commercial failure led Allcroft to resign from her company, Gullane Entertainment (originally The Britt Allcroft Company) in September 2000.7 Two years later, Gullane was acquired by HiT Entertainment.8 Plot Sir Topham Hatt is away on holiday, leaving Mr. Conductor in charge. Meanwhile, in Shining Time, Mr. Conductor's supply of gold dust is running low and not enough to allow him to travel back from Sodor. Later that day, at Tidmouth Sheds, Diesel 10 arrives and announces his plan to get rid of the steam engines; Thomas leaves to get Mr. Conductor. "The Lost Engine", named Lady, is hidden in a workshop on Muffle Mountain, as done by Burnett Stone after Diesel 10's last attempt to destroy her. Despite having rebuilt Lady, Burnett is unable to steam her despite using different types of coal. At night, Diesel 10 attacks the shed where the steam engines are sleeping, but after his gold dust fails him, Mr. Conductor repels Diesel 10 with sugar. Lily Stone is being sent from her hometown to visit Burnett, whom she meets while at the railway station, and he puts her on the Rainbow Sun instead of the right train. On arriving at Shining Time, she is taken to Burnett's house. While talking at Knapford, Percy and Thomas conclude there is a secret railway between Sodor and Shining Time. Overhearing them, Diesel 10 goes to the Ironworks to tell Splatter and Dodge of his plans to destroy the lost engine and the other steam engines. Toby rings his bell to distract him, causing Diesel 10's claw to damage the shed roof, which makes the shed crash down on Diesel 10, Splatter, and Dodge. Later, Thomas collects six special coal trucks to help Henry's cold, but one of them accidentally rolls through the buffers. The next day, Lily meets Patch, who takes her on a horse ride to Shining Time, where she meets Junior again. Junior takes her through the Magic Railroad to Sodor, where they meet Thomas. Thomas is not happy to see Junior, but agrees to help him and Lily and takes the two of them to the Sodor Grain Windmill, where they find Mr. Conductor. Junior climbs onto one of the windmill sails and ends up being thrown onto Diesel 10's roof. Later that night, Percy finds that Splatter and Dodge have located the Sodor entrance to the Magic Railroad and goes to warn Thomas. Thomas agrees to take Lily back home and sets off. While traveling through the Magic Railroad, Thomas discovers the missing coal truck, which he collects and arrives at Muffle Mountain. Lily goes to find Burnett, leaving Thomas stranded on the mountain, but as the wind picks up, Thomas rolls down the mountain and re-enters the Magic Railroad through another secret portal. Lily finds Burnett in his workshop where he shows her Lady and explains his problem in getting her to steam. Lily suggests using Sodor coal, and when Patch goes back to retrieve the truck, Burnett uses the coal to fire Lady up. Now able to steam, Lady takes Burnett, Lily, Patch and Mutt along the Magic Railroad, regenerating both Lady and the railroad in the process. Thomas then arrives and the two engines return to Sodor, where they meet Mr. Conductor and Junior. Diesel 10 arrives with Splatter and Dodge, who abruptly decide to stop helping him. Thomas and Lady, driven by Burnett, flee from Diesel 10, who chases them towards a crumbling viaduct. Thomas and Lady both make it safely across but Diesel 10 falls off the bridge and lands into a barge filled with sludge. That evening, Thomas, Lady and Burnett return to the grotto; Lily combines water from a wishing well and shavings from the Magic Railroad to make more gold dust. Junior decides to go to work on Sodor and Mr. Conductor gives him his own cap before sending him to another railway, before leaving himself to welcome Sir Topham Hatt home. Lily, Burnett, Patch and Mutt return to Shining Time, while Thomas happily travels home down the King's Highway into the sunset. Cast Live-action actors * Alec Baldwin as Mr. Conductor * Peter Fonda as Burnett Stone: Lily's grandfather ** Jared Wall as young Burnett * Mara Wilson as Lily Stone: Burnett's granddaughter * Michael E. Rodgers as Junior: Mr. Conductor's lazy cousin * Cody McMains as Patch * Didi Conn as Stacy Jones: Matt and Dan's aunt, and the manager of Shining Time * Russell Means as Billy Twofeathers, the Locomotive Engineer * Lori Hallier as Lily's mother * Laura Bower as Tasha: Burnett's deceased wife Voice actors * Eddie Glen as Thomas: a blue tank engine who runs his own branch line. * Britt Allcroft as Lady: the lost magical tank engine who runs the Magic Railroad. * Neil Crone as ** Diesel 10 ** Splatter ** Gordon the Big Blue Express Engine ** Tumbleweed (uncredited) * Kevin Frank as ** Dodge ** Henry the Big Green Mixed-Traffic Engine ** Harold the Helicopter ** Bertie the Bus * Linda Ballantyne as Percy: a green saddle tank engine who takes the mail. * Susan Roman as James: a red splendid mixed-traffic tender engine * Colm Feore as Toby: a brown tram engine who sometimes takes Henrietta. * Shelley-Elizabeth Skinner as Annie and Clarabel: Thomas' branch line coaches Category:2000 films